A special story from Jag as she shares her experience of heading into hospital during the Covid 19 pandemic to have her baby. She shares detailed feelings of how she felt throughout her journey and offers some wise words of wisdom for anyone facing birthing in lockdown.
” Mother’s to be are having to be so strong at the moment. It doesn’t mean we don’t get waves of fear, uncertainty and even anger at the current situation. Never mind feeling more vulnerable than we did already.
However once my labour began, my total focus was on managing those surges, to reach hospital and have a safe birth. I went into my own head totally. My up breathing kept my surges flowing and I found that during the breaks in between contractions, I would use even more willpower, to relax my hands and my legs. I would focus on making that walk from the house to the car, to the car park and into triage. I used every second the best way I could.
As I arrived a hospital porter takes your bags away…. and then you say goodbye to your birth partner at the door.. that’s hard!
Once I was checked over I was told I am fully dilated. Danny was in the carpark contemplating what to watch on Netflix, when within minutes he was asked to join us in the labour ward.
During one of the contractions the midwife needed to transfer me from assessment room to delivery room . “Ok, I need to you breathe but not push through just this one surge as we’ll be in the corridor”. Well it’s true you can do anything, your body, your willpower, and I did just that.
Then once in the delivery suite, I was fortunate …. a few pushes and my baby arrived. No gas (no time to set it up) and limited birth plan used.
During my the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy, one of the things that I found hard, was speaking to masked staff. It’s difficult to feel the connection and care, when you want to see this new face, this person who is advising you on such important matters. However during active labour, I felt the team communicated with us well, the midwife was clear, caring, and funny. We needed that, I felt at ease. I did not request a mask , there was ample reassurance we were in a clean safe place, to protect mother and child.
Time at the unit definitely felt like a safe bubble, forgetting about the sadness surrounding Covid 19.
Now we’re home and in strict isolation. It’s hard but, the Positives are that we have a new focus, our child, who knows nothing of our challenges. We must not project such feelings and keep positive, treat this time as a time of togetherness, bonding, and effective communicating.
Jag’s final message to anyone reading this was “you are in control on so many other levels, you can engineer a way that suits you and your needs at this time”
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